With apologies to Kentucky, the intended jab to the Longmont community hits home -- and, really, people, ouch.

While the pejorative kind of stings, it probably made sense when it was first lobbed and stuck like Gorilla Glue. The city a decade ago was decidedly square. Given the city was actually founded as a square mile, it may have been a bit hard for the population to think outside the box.

A decade ago, Longmont had little to offer in the weird department, the tapestry of subcultures that made our neighbors to the southwest a hub of the interesting, odd and entertaining. Of course, there are the bumper stickers owning it: "Keep Boulder Weird."

You know, like Austin.

Boulder County Bomber jammer Kid Vicious catches her breath during a roller derby bout against Pueblo's Jailhouse Jawbreakers on Feb. 23, 2013, at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.
(Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)

Meanwhile Longmont had a mall and a little Walmart. And some pawn shops. Can't forget those -- Pawnmont.

Little by little, though, Longmont has been shedding its culturally conservative shell and letting its freak flag fly.

In the past decade, Longmont has welcomed and found markets for the hipsters and hippies, the freaks and the geeks, the tattooed and the pierced, the yogis and the pole dancers for fitness, the punks and the geeks. Well, maybe it wasn't a welcome so much as an infiltration -- po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.

Take the mayor for instance.

On a recent Wednesday, Dennis Coombs met with a visitor from Zambia who was interested in American government structures, signed city documents, and worked in his office at the Longmont Civic Center -- in cycling gear.

"I probably should have been a little more dressed up for the guy from Zambia," he said, with his road bike leaning against he wall behind his desk.

While City Council is nonpartisan, the shift from a long line of apparently conservative mayors to a city leader who bikes into work on any day he can possibly get away without a suit and tie is a decided change of pace for the city. It is most apparent when he stands near the portraits of his predecessors in the council chamber. He seems decidedly liberal.

"Fiscally, I am very conservative," he said.

He isn't sure the cultural shift in Longmont is a move to the weird side.

"I think we were weird before," Coombs said.

But, he noted, "We're changing, definitely," adding that there is a vibe that residents are getting more liberal, bike-friendly and art loving.

Along the same lines, a decade ago, skate culture was confined to the streets. Now Longmont has a large skate park at Sandstone Ranch. Perhaps even less expected, the city is now home to a women's flat track roller derby league that sells out bouts at the Boulder County Fairgrounds.

Boulder County Bombers skater Christie Marcotte, 45, who has lived in Longmont for 13 years, said when she first moved to Longmont she considered it a "cow town." (That may be a nice way of saying "Longtucky.")

"It has become more progressive, really," she said. "In time, people have moved here and they are more adventuresome, they are more open, I think," she said.

She skates under name Give 'Em Elle and thrives in the derby community's do-it-yourself punk ethos. The women-dominated sport with a reputation for being a bit counterculture has found a broad and supportive fan base in Boulder County. Marcotte has two sons that she is raising in Longmont.

"They play hockey and baseball, and they totally love that I play roller derby," she said.

Something like this was out of the question when she first moved to the city. She said she felt like there was nothing to do. Oh, my, times have changed.

Boulder County Bomber faelust, center, waits for equipment inspection before her team's bout against Pueblo's Jailhouse Jawbreakers on Saturday night Feb. 23, at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. (Lewis Geyer/Times-Call)

"I think it is pretty amazing," she said.

Kathe Heinecken, owner of Barbed Wire Books and a 20-year resident of Longmont, said she sees the cultural changes for the better just looking out of her bookstore's window on Main Street. She sees a Crackpots, where residents can go to create art, the Longmont Theater Company, and a store geared toward the outdoors lifestyle.

"I think Boulder has peaked with the expense of living (there) and the frenetic-ness," she said. "The people are bringing the best part of that culture here, while leaving behind what they don't want."

Businesses geared toward serving those different cultures, like her store, independent coffee shops, fitness businesses of all stripes, and bars and music venues are thriving. She said Longmont is not just supporting those businesses because of a growing population, but because of the type of people who make up that population.

"I see a bunch of kids in here of every subculture, and they seem pretty happy," Heinecken said.

And the residents aren't just partaking of art, but making it. Graffiti artist Gamma Acosta is Longmont's best known artist. He has sold works nationally and he has been commissioned for works in and out of the city.

Perhaps it is time, Longmont, to shuck off the old nasty nicknames and adopt something new. Something hip and progressive, like Denver's LoDo, or HiLo, or LoHi, or even SoBo.

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